Journey to the Interior

As the era of art cabinets and wunderkammer came to an end and their exhibits were reorganized into collections based on "objective" scientific criteria, the arts were bereft of their position to interpret the world in terms of their own models of classification and perception. The fact that numerous wunderkammer exhibits were hidden for years at the Berlin Museum of National History offered the perfect opportunity to present these priceless objects and specimens to the greater public using new forms of presentation. This project developed a DVD that allows the user to freely navigate through the collection, as well as view the exhibits based on scientific, historic, fictional or even aesthetic criteria. The history of the natural sciences and museum collections are presented as a narrative which illustrates the interconnection of scientific methods, historic interpretation and artistic creativity.

Artistic director: Hanns Zischler (dramaturgy, editor), Andreas Kratky (interface), Participants: montage: Juri Hwang (USA), filmmaker: Boris Hars-Tschachotin, camera: Thomas Ladenburger, layout: Toby Cornish (GB) and others

Presentation: 25 February 2011, Museum of Natural History, Berlin

Additional Venues: Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, American Academy Berlin, Center of Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USA).